Oscilloscope purred over the weekend with the debut of cat docKedi exclusively at New York’s Metrograph, scoring the weekend’s top per theater average at $40.5K. Fox Searchlight opened Amma Asante’s A United Kingdom in several locations grossing $70K (though the company said it picked up as the weekend wore on). Fox International Productions bowed India’s Jolly LLB 2 in 173 theaters, grossing $780K, while the weekend’s widest Specialty debut was a collection of shorts. 2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films, from Shorts HD and Magnolia Pictures, played 184 runs, grossing $660K. Sony Classics launched Denmark’s Best Foreign Language Oscar-nominated Land Of Mine in three locations, grossing $15.7K, while China Lion debuted drama Duckweed in over two dozen theaters grossing $160K. Paladin added several runs for last weekend’s PTA winner, Chapter & Verse, while Magnolia Pictures more than doubled its runs for Oscar-nominated doc I Am Not Your Negro, taking in $830K. Sony Pictures Classics shed runs for Robert De Niro’s The Comedian in its second frame, while its Oscar-nominated title Elle crossed $2M. Several other titles passed box office thresholds this weekend as well, including A24’s 20th Century Women and Moonlight along with TWC’s Lion and Amazon Pictures/Roadside Attractions’ Manchester By the Sea.

Oscilloscope opened Ceyda Torun’s Kedi to big audiences at the Metrograph. The feature grossed $40.5K, the young venue’s highest opening gross and also the best debut for Oscilloscope. The figure is buoyed by “organic purchases” as opposed to group sales, according to the distributor.

“Over the course of the weekend, Kedi sold out an incredible 21 of its showtimes,” the company noted Sunday. “Despite the fact that the Metrograph devoted both of its screens to the film, it still wasn’t enough to accommodate the phenomenal demand. We believe Kedi will continue to build momentum as it moves to Los Angeles next Friday.” Oscilloscope will expand the feature to the top 50 markets in the coming weeks.

Fox Searchlight

Fox Searchlight debuted A United Kingdom starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike in four New York and Los Angeles theaters. The title grossed $70K, averaging $17.5K. Searchlight said Sunday that it saw what was likely a boost from word of mouth Friday to Saturday and that three of its four theaters had scored strong numbers.

“We’re pretty happy. It’s not a huge per screen average, but we were number one at the Landmark in L.A. and did very well at AMC Lincoln Square,” said Fox Searchlight distribution head Frank Rodriguez Sunday. “A United Kingdom is appealing to a sophisticated, mature, cinephile audience.” Rodriguez noted that the title started a bit slow at the Angelika on Friday, but then “fought it out” for the top spot at the theater on Saturday. He said that its natural audience will likely come out to see it as it continues its roll out and that the distributor is looking at the film’s long tail.

“An audience like this won’t run out to see it, they’ll wait,” he said. “That is why some of these averages aren’t quite as big. This sophisticated audience has already seen the nominees, so they’re now looking for something fresh. David [Oyelowo] does a tremendous job. We’re looking at a nice roll out. It’s not a sprint, it’s a long distance run.”

Searchlight will add 7 cities and about 30 – 35 theaters this week, concentrating its expansion in suburban art houses. On the 24th, the film will head to 30 more markets and up to 100 theaters. Added Rodriguez: “Ultimately, we’re hoping to get to three hundred theaters in the fourth or fifth week.”

AMPAS

This year’s crop of Oscar shorts opened in 184 theaters via Shorts HD and Magnolia Pictures. 2017 Oscar Nominated Shorts grossed $660K, averaging $3,587. Magnolia touted its debut, noting it was the “biggest opening ever for Oscar Shorts” in both screen count and gross. “We’re opening on 60 more screens that last year and will top last year’s record opening weekend by $100K.” The 2016 Oscar Nominated Shorts opened in 112 theaters, grossing $505K, averaging $4,509. The shorts went on to cume over $2.8M worldwide.

Among other debuts, FIP opened Jolly LLB 2 starring Akshay Kumar in 173 locations grossing $160K ($5,925 PTA). The film is a follow up to 2013’s Jolly LLB which grossed $5M at the Indian box office, though it did not open in North America. We decided to mount the sequel Jolly LLB 2, which stars one of the biggest Bollywood actors, Akshay Kumar,” said Rohit Sharma, head of International Sales and Distribution at Fox Star Studios India earlier this week. “The idea was to take the franchise to the next level. We are currently looking at a 3,500-screen release in India and over 600 screens across 36 countries.”

Sony Pictures Classics

Sony Pictures Classics opened Danish filmmaker Martin Zandvliet’s Land of Mine in three locations. The Best Foreign Language Oscar nominee grossed $15.7K, averaging $5,253. It is the last of the nominees in the category to have its regular run in the U.S. Among other Oscar nominees in the category, Sweden’s A Man Called Ove (Music Box Films), which opened September 30, has cumed $3.4M; Christmas Day opener Toni Erdmann from Germany (also via Sony Pictures Classics) is still in the midst of its release, coming in at over $520K to date; Iran’s The Salesman from Amazon Pictures/Cohen Media Group is in its third week of release at about $372K; and Australia’s entry, Tanna, grossed just under $6K in a very limited stateside release.

And China Lion opened Duckweed in 27 locations Friday. The feature starring Deng Chao and Eddie Peng grossed $160K, averaging $5,925. The company said Sunday it will add runs for the title in the coming week.

Paladin expanded last weekend’s PTA topper Chapter & Verse in its second frame. In five theaters, the title grossed $15.3K, averaging $3,073. Last week, the film played exclusively in Harlem grossing $32.7K. It has cumed $52.2K and will continue to roll out in select markets.

SPC’s The Comedian with Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann, Danny DeVito and Edie Falco shed 236 runs in its second weekend. The feature grossed just over $277K, averaging just $371. Last weekend, it bowed in 848 theaters grossing just over $1.1M, averaging $1,306. The Comedian has cumed $1.4M.

Magnolia Pictures

Magnolia added 72 locations for Raoul Peck’s Oscar-nominated doc I Am Not Your Negro. In a total of 115 locations, the feature grossed $830K, averaging $7,217. The average is about a 56% drop from last week’s $16.5K average. The film grossed $709K in 43 theaters the previous week. I Am Not Your Negro has now cumed over $1.83M.

Abramorama added 4 runs for dance doc Mr. Gaga in its second frame. Mr. Gaga grossed $26.7K in six theaters, averaging $4,452. Last week it grossed $24.6K in a pair of runs, averaging $12.4K. It has cumed $73.8K.

Pantelion/Lionsgate’s Un Padre No Tan Padre is nearing $2M in its third weekend. In 117 theaters, the Mexican comedy grossed $160K, averaging $1,368. Last weekend the feature was in 312 theaters, grossing $435K ($1,394 average). The film has now cumed $1.9M.

Iran’s Best Foreign Language Oscar nominee The Salesman played an additional 19 runs in its third frame. The title grossed $261K in 65 theaters, averaging $4,029. The Salesman grossed nearly $237K last weekend in 46 theaters last week ($5,149 average). Its cume is now just under $725K.

Sony Pictures Classics

SPC added eight locations for its Oscar-nominated animated feature The Red Turtle. The film grossed nearly $68K in 29 theaters over the weekend, averaging $2,344 for a cume of $331K. The distributor’s Toni Erdmann played an additional 25 theaters vs. last weekend. From 49 runs, the feature grossed nearly $131K, averaging $2,672. Last week it grossed $103K in 24 locations, averaging $4,304. Toni Erdmann has cumed $687K.

SPC’s Elle, which is nominated for Best Actress for Isabelle Huppert, crossed $2M in its 14th weekend in release. The film grossed $67.6K, averaging $1,187 for a cume of $2.0M.

Still with SPC, its doc The Eagle Huntress is closing in on $3M. The feature grossed $25K in 34 theaters, averaging $747. It has cumed $2.9M.

Annapurna/A24’s 20th Century Women easily crossed $5M over the weekend. The title grossed $233K in 127 theaters Friday to Sunday, averaging $1,838, giving it a total of $5.1M.

The Weinstein Company’s Lion is now above $30M, grossing just over $4M in 1,337 locations this weekend, averaging $3,054 for a cume of $30.3M as of Sunday.

Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions’ Manchester By the Sea hit over $45M in week 13 of its release. The title grossed nearly $682K in 454 locations over the weekend, averaging $1,502.